“The moment of shame came as the Staatskapelle Dresden, one of the world’s best orchestras, opened the 43rd Hong Kong Arts Festival with a performance of Richard Strauss’ Metamorphosen. … But just as the 20-minute masterpiece faded out into intense C minor chords, an audience member began to clap.” And then – well, not all hell, but some hell broke loose.
Author: Matthew Westphal
L.A. Phil’s Deborah Borda Is Going To Harvard (Temporarily)
“Deborah Borda will take a four-month sabbatical from her role as president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Philharmonic so that she can assume a residency at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.”
Another Friday-Afternoon-News-Dump Departure: CEO Of L.A.’s Geffen Playhouse Steps Down
“Kenneth Novice has departed the Geffen Playhouse after serving as its managing director for more than five years, the company has announced.” Both parties refused to comment further.
Russian Opera Director Faces Criminal Charge For Offending Religious Believers
“Thirty-year-old director Timofei Kulyabin told AFP he has been charged over his production of Wagner’s Tannhäuser at Novosibirsk’s State Opera and Ballet Theatre in Siberia, which premiered in December. ‘It’s absurd and I don’t want to take part in something absurd, to be honest,’ he said.”
The Philosophical Anxiety Behind The Arguments Over #TheDress
“What fascinates us about the dress, I think, isn’t its color: it’s the degree to which our perceptions can diverge. How could the same image appear so different to various people? The dress controversy is compelling because it touches, however unsophisticatedly, on some of the oldest and most difficult questions in philosophy of mind.”
A Day With Machiavelli In Exile
Johns Hopkins classicist Christopher Celenza looks at a letter Machiavelli wrote to a close friend describing his daily life in the country, not long after he was banned from Florence, during the period in which he wrote the first part of The Prince.
Here’s One Of Those Fairytales Rediscovered In Bavaria A Couple Years Ago
“An evil witch kidnapped three princesses and would not set them free. While they were in captivity, the girls learned a few magic tricks from the witch. …”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.02.15
Moving Toward the Light
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2015-03-02
Los Angeles Ballet’s Notable The Sleeping Beauty
AJBlog: Fresh Pencil Published 2015-03-02
Monday Recommendation: Terry, Keepnews & Monk
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-03-02
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ISIS Destroys Ancient Statues At Mosul Museum – Or So They Think
Just days after the extremists burned the rare books in Mosul’s library, they went rampaging through the city museum’s collection of Akkadian and Assyrian statues, smashing the works with sledgehammers and drills. It seems, though, that many of the destroyed pieces weren’t originals. (includes video)
Stolen Picasso Found In FedEx Shipment At EWR
“A Picasso painting missing from Paris for more than a decade resurfaced in the United States, where it had been shipped under false pretenses as a $37 holiday-themed ‘art craft.'”